Double Jeopardy for CIA Interrogators

A column today by Gary Bauer talks about the political decision by President Obama's Attorney General to appoint a special investigator to examine the CIA interrogators who were responsible for questioning terrorists and obtaining information to prevent the death of Americans in future terrorist attacks in this country similar to the attacks on 9/11/2001.

Liberals have made continued allegations of torture, and Bush administration officials admitted to using "enhanced interrogation techniques"; the whole debate comes down to what is and is not torture. Sleep deprivation and loud music is certainly a far cry from the beatings and physical maiming that many have suffered in Cuba's prisons. Recently released documents by the CIA show that the techniques used were very effective in gaining information that prevented terrorist attacks.

President Obama seemed to be pretty clear when he said that we should move forward and not look backward when asked about the possibility of criminal investigations of CIA officials months ago. That position would seem to be supported by the investigation of the Justice Department by career prosecutors of all these interrogators and their decision to prosecute only one person based on the facts.

It is indeed interesting that the President has now decided to reverse his position on this issue just as the liberal base of his own party has become more and more upset over the administration's failure to enact "health care reform." Some political observers believe that investigating CIA interrogators is a way to mollify his base at the expense of those defenders of our country who were doing thier jobs.

This is especially interesting in light of the fact that Obama administration officials in the Justice Department overruled career officials in May by requiring that charges brought against Black Panther members for voter intimidation during the last election be dismissed. A civil rights activist who saw the incident described it as "the most blatant form of voter intimidation that he had seen, even during the voting rights crisis in Mississippi a half-century ago."